Forgive me father, for I have sinned.

[straas]

I've neglected nearly all maintainance on my mountain bike, save for some grease and some brake fettling.

I'd been aware of my crunchy drivetrain for a while, but decided the best course of action was to get some in ear earphones and turn the volume up

So, putting the power down today when I got bogged in mud, resulted in a snapped chain.

Obviously, I know I need a new chain. But how are the cassette and chain ring looking? to me they look ok, but would like another opionion.

Cheers

p.s. remember I took these photos straight after the ride, so wet hands and wet phone have led to rubbish photos.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

how are the cassette and chain ring looking?

but would like another opionion

They are farkin shot!

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

How do you tell that the gears are shot??

what should I look for??

for background - I have been cycling (for leisure - not competitive or 'training' or anything) and have never had to change any gears until a few days ago when the LBS told me my gear problems were down to wear
OK - it's a mid drive ebike so it will wear out faster - but it would be helpful to know what to look for next time

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Front ring...teeth are all sharp pointed spikes.
Cassette...look at the very inner sprocket. Look at the shape of the opening, and the width of the teeth. Then look at the rings in the middle. The gap is elongated with a flat, rather than curved, bottom and the size of the teeth is much reduced. Not quite as pointed as the front rings but still worn.

New chain, cassette and front rings needed. Also as the bike has obviously been neglected new inner and outer cables wouldn't go amiss.

 

[straas]

The bearer of bad news!

Just had a little google - MTB parts seem to be cheaper than road bits!

Looks like the casette, replacement chainring and chain can be had for around £45 all in. I wouldnt even get a 105 chainring for that money!

 

[Ajax Bay]

I agree the large chainring merits replacement but the others don't imo (their teeth profile seems OK). I suspect you spend most of your riding in the large chainring (at least when putting power down).
It's difficult to assess whether a cassette is too worn to use by visual inspection. A physical test is to refit the 'snapped' chain and check whether it skates on certain sprockets, under a bit of power (eg up a gentle hill and trying to accelerate, checking each sprocket in turn).
But since you are going to replace the chain, you'll likely have to replace the cassette as well: by all means try a new chain, but I'd procure a cassette at the same time so you can immediately replace it if necessary.

How do you tell that the gears are shot??

Didn't "we" answer that Q to your satisfaction in the other thread?

 

[accountantpete]

The inner ring on the cranks look shot. The middle and large ring have factory cut teeth which look awful but help shifting and may be ok.

I can never tell how worn a cassette is by looking - suck it and see applies.

 

[Threevok]

You should buy a new crankset, chain and cassette, if only as a peace offering to the bike

Failing that, replace the chain only and then see if and where the chain slips.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I think you need to buy a new bike.

 

[si_c]

If the absence of following @Ming the Merciless suggestion, I'd suggest fixing the chain with a chain tool and carrying on If not that then the chainrings do seem to warrant replacing and assuming you haven't changed the chain and cassette recently / ever then I'd swap them out as well. £45 all in seems reasonable to me, get an extra chain and keep it on hand to replace when worn save yourself a repeat.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I think you need to buy a new bike.

Seriously, if the whole transmission is well worn, I wouldn't buy a new anything. I would just get one of my used chains out that I keep as hack bike spares and put one of those on. A well-used secondhand chain may well work perfectly well and you might get another thousand miles or more out of the rest of the transmission.
What I wouldn't do, is just fit a new chain and leave the rest as it will probably skip. So it's screw every last mile out of the whole thing with a used chain, or replace all the worn bits at once.

 

[straas]

I mean, that's really not a bad shout...

 

[Deleted member 26715]

New chain, put on bike, ride, despite what people think cycling is not rocket science.

You may have to put in 0.001% extra effort, the new chain may fail 300 metres earlier if you don't put new cogs on but who cares unless you're being paid to ride.

 

[davidphilips]

For your own safety when you do sort bike out get a chain checker and use it, replace the chain when worn and the cassette with every second or third chain.
A well maintained drive train actually lasts longer,looks better,costs less, safer, shifts better, uses less energy than a neglected chain/ drive train.

 

[straas]

I've got a chain checker and maintain my road bikes, I just neglect the MTB. I always subconsciously just think its more rugged.

To be fair, if the chain fails on this - worst case scenario is falling over into a puddle of mud - I'm not exactly downhilling at 40mph on it.